Int'l tourist industry eyes emerging nations growth

TOKYO -- The global tourism industry, hit by natural disasters and economic turmoil, is eyeing potential travelers from emerging nations in hope that their growing middle and upper classes could spur growth.

Delegates converged on disaster-struck Japan this week for the sector's major annual conference and were in an upbeat mood, encouraged by the prospect of the so-called BRICS nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. "Our industry will grow despite all the crises of the last years," Michael Frenzel, head of German tourism giant TUI, said at the World Travel and Tourism Council summit in Tokyo, which wraps up Thursday.